Team Selection
During the 1996 season, the Orange Bowl was a member of the Bowl Alliance, a precursor to the modern Bowl Championship Series. The Bowl Alliance was formed prior to the 1995 college football season in an effort to match the No. 1 and No. 2 teams at the conclusion of the regular season while also ensuring other high-ranking teams were allowed to participate in high-profile bowl games. The Alliance included the Southeastern Conference, Big 12 Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, and Big East Conference. As agreed, the champions of each conference would play in one of three Bowl Alliance games: the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. The Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences, which had a separate agreement with the Rose Bowl, were not included in the Bowl Alliance until 1998, when the Alliance became the Bowl Championship Series.
In 1996, the Orange Bowl had the fourth and sixth selections from eligible Bowl Alliance teams. The Sugar Bowl had the top two picks, while the Fiesta Bowl, which had the top picks in 1995, received the third and fifth picks. Due to Bowl Alliance restrictions, the Orange Bowl at the end of the 1996 season had to be played on December 31, marking the only time in the history of the Orange Bowl that the game was not played in January and that there were two Orange Bowls in the same year—one at the end of the 1995 season, and the other at the conclusion of the 1996 season.
Read more about this topic: 1996 Orange Bowl (December)
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—Konrad Lorenz (1903–1989)